Dark Tower

Past the Dark tower.

I think it was nearly 20 years ago that my lovely partner excitedly opened the latest delivery from the Double Day book club. It was the first two instalments of the Steven Kings’ Dark Tower magnum opus. I was totally absorbed by these books and kept them in my head for years. Eventually book three came along and that was equally great. After another several years book 4 appeared and was read. I heard of the fifth instalment but didn’t rush out to get it. I can’t remember what was happening in my life at the time but it was more important that following Rolland and his ka-tet.

Last Christmas I purchased the hard cover of book five for my partner. She was/is an avid SK reader who wasn’t quite enough of a fan to buy the hard cover editions for herself. So in due time, after she had read it, I started. I must also admit at this point that I have only read one other SK novel. I’m not to sure of title. It might have been the Green Mile, or may be Stand by Me, or some collection of short stories - obviously forgettable. Reading book 5 I found I was reading one of the best books I had read in a long time. It was totally great. The rich language, the plot twists and integration of the whole narrative into one cohesive work was of the highest order.

I then immediately rushed out to get book six. What a let down. It side tracked, the use of language and the clumsy handling of himself as a story character was sad. It was as if it was written by an understudy - or produced flat out with little re-reading, re-writing and tweaking (that’s only allowed by amateur Blog writers).

Anyhow the good news delivered in the after word of that book was that book 7 was done and it would 100% wind up the series. I had to wait until my Birthday for the final instalment. This also coincided with my battle to finish the Other World series of novels (Tad Williams). That was hard going for someone who is perpetually tired and only reads in bed at night. And so with the Other World series in my past I commenced the final book.

It was as good as book 5. All the elements that had made the whole series great were there. Very clever plot devices, the richness of language and offcourse tying all the threads together completing a masterpiece (except maybe book 6).

My only worry was that when I was about ½ way through there was an announcement that the series would be used as a base for a marvel comic. I read the headline on Slashdot and duly started to pick through the posts on the subject. One reader post about the series chilled me. “I think I will ignore his advice and go and smash his letter box down with a baseball bat”. My immediate though was that the poster had finished the series and was complaining about another dark tower 'to be continued' note in the after word or just a crappy open end. I stopped reading the posts at that point. Thankfully book 7 is it.

While I enjoyed the Dark tower series immensely I don’t think I will read much more of Mr Kings works. I believe he is a great author but horror/suspense is not really my thing. Maybe if he does some more fantasy.....

This brings me to a novel occurrence in my life. I can’t think of any series that I am in the midst of!

Doh’, I just remembered that I promised to read the penultimate Harry Potter book to my son. He has already read it but he wants me read it to him – Just like I did for the other 5 books in the series.

More endings on the way.